Coal-handling plant



R. w. sTEM COAL HANDLING PLANT Filed March '15. 1924 W '/f all- 10"' I w (jmmzou W 2// atented done 23, 1925.

carte:) STATEs NT OFFICE.

EUSSEL W. STEM, O'F BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

conL-HNDLING PLANT.

Application filed 'March 15, 1924. Serial F0. 699,561.

To all/whom it 'may conoern:

Be it known that I, RUssEL W. STEM, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Bethlehem, Pa., in the county of Lehigh and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improye ments in Coal-Handling Plants, of which.

the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a coal handhng plant and particularly to a plant in which coal is transferred from a supply so irce, such for example as a track hopper, to an elevated bin of limited capacity, ifrom .which bin the coal may be delivered to wagons or to storage. w

Various types' of mechanical conveyors and coal storage systems have been pro' posed since the. first use of conveying and elevating machinery in coal yards and many of the constructions have been found highly etlicient under the particular conditions for which they were designed. The known systems contemplate the handling and storage of large quantities of coal and fall within two general classes, vizl, the coal as unloaded or delivered at the ya-rd is transferred either'to ground storage or ,to overhcad pockets. Overhead pockets are desirable, since the coal may be delivered by gravity to wagons, cars or the like and `izround storage has the advantage of lower lil'st cost.

The domestic retail coal dealer is not 0011-' cerned, however, with the storage of large quantities of coal, since it is usually more difficult for him to secure coal than to sell it. The retail dealer can, as a. rule, deliver coal atpract-ically the same rate as it is received and rarely can stock more than ten per cent of the. average daily receipts.

An object of the invention is ,to provide a coal handling plant, which is especially eiticient in the handling of coal at yards where the coal can be delivered at about the same rate as it. is received. More spe-'f certain novelldetails of construction which render a plant of this type highly efiicient. in operation. o

One embodiment of the invention` is illustrated in the accolnpanying drawings, in which F ig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in sec' tion, of the coal handling plant.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary Vertical section through the top portion of the storage tower and illustrating one form of controllinggate.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 in-' dicates the source from which the coal enters the plant, which source is here shown as a track hopper. The hopper communicates with a metal chute 2 havingside'walls which fit closely against the sides of a.

'also provided. A U-shaped bail 5 is pivotally supported on the chute 2 and is provided with a spring 6 for urging the crossbar of the bail downwardly. As the buckets move upwardly the bail scrapes over the tops of the buckets so that all coal above the upper edge of a bucket is thrown back into the chute 2 before the bucket leaves the chute. the coal to a.. distributing pocket at-lthe top of a storage tower 7, which tower preferably carries the motor 8 and associated mechanism. for Operating the conveyor. The coal delivered to the distributing pocket or upper platform 9 of the tower 7 may pass, by means of chutes 10, 11 to storage piles 12, 13, respectively, in accordance. with the positionjng of the sliding gate 14. When the storage chutes are closed, however, the coal flows through the. opening 15 in the platform 9 and into the storage bin 16 of the tower. Battles 17 are preferably located below the opening 15 to reduce. breakage, and the bin is provided with a chute 18 for delivering' coal to wagon'sand' with a chute 19 for delivering coal, with little or no breakage to storage at points close to Ithe tower, or for emptyng the bin to a storage pile when-a car earrying a different kind of coal arrives before the bin is emptied.

Upon'the arrival of a coal car, the car The bucket conveyor 1- delivers ery chute 18. When enough transportation is available, the entire plant functions exactly as the systems in which unlimited over.- head pockets 'are provided, since the elevator is operated continuously until the car is emptied and all of the coal isdelivered to the trucks from the overhead bin 16. If suflicient trucks are not available, the elevator may be stopped when the bin 16 fills f or if it is essential that the car be unloade in the shortest time possible, the gate 14 may lISO be moved to open one of the storage chutes, in which case the coal passes to a storage pile. 'It is usually unnecessary however to pass the coal to storage in yards which have an annual business notexceeding ten thou' sand tons. With one plant installation of this type it has been found that of the coal handled Was transferred 'from the track hopper to trucks vvithout passing to ground storage, and inthis plant the capacity of the storage bin was only two tons; It will be apparent therefore that a plant of this type provides a retail dealer with the substantial equivalent of a costly overhead pocket storage system and at a cost comparable With the cost of a ground storage system.

It is to be understood that the invention is, not limited to' the specific embodiment herein described. The actual number of storage chutes to which coal may be delivered from the tower and the means for controlling the `flow through such chutes is not an essential feature of the invention.- It is immaterialv also whether the coal which is passed to storage from the tower' goes to ground storage or to overhead pockets. It is therefore apparent that many changes which may be made in the various parts of the plant, their relative size, proportion and arrangement fall within the scope of the following' claims.

I claim: w.

1. In a plant for handling material such as coal, a tower providing an elevated bin of limited capacity, a distributing'pocket at the to of said tower, means for transferring coal rom a source of supply to said dis' tributing pocket, a storage chute extending from said pocket, a. passaie 'for delivering coul'from said pocket to said bin, means operative to pass coal from said pocket to said bin upon-closure of said storage chute, and

'ass-facet l a chute for delivering coal from said bin a truck or the like.

2. In a plant for hanrlling so as coal, lan elevated platform, "f transfer-ring coal from a source o said elevated platform, a pl'arali'th age chutes extending from to storage spaces, means for centre fioW of coal through said chutes bin of limited capacity below t e level o said platform, means on said platform spi" ative upon the closure of said storage chu to pass coal from said platform to elevated binI and a chute for delivering from said bin to a truck or the li '3. In a plant for handling material such as coal, a supply hopper, a tower, a conveyor for transferring coal from ho per to said tower, an elevated bin o' capacity carried by said tower said tower for delivering coal to storage outside of said tower or to bin, means for delivering coal from said hr., by gravity, to a truck or the like, and means for delivering coal from said bin o another storage point outside of said tower.

4. In a plant for handling material s ch as coal, a i'eceiving hopper, an elcvatc transferring coal'from. said hoc vated platform, a phiralityo-c 'f extending from said platform, mc Stopping Athe flow of coal to said chutes,`an elevated bin of limited capar an opening in said platform and conmunicating with said elevated bin, sa opening being so positioned that coal d fered to said platform will. flow through i ilo aid opening only when the fiow through 'said storage chutes is intrrupted, and a chute for delivering coal-from said bin to a truck or the like.

5. l'n a plant for handling material such. .21s coal, a receiving hopper` an elevator for transferring coal from said hopper to an eli vated distributing pocket, a bin of limited capacity and a -plurality of ster` points below the level of said pocket, a mte extending from said pocket to orl`n of said storage spaces, a p'assage from s to said bin, said passage being ad I receive coal from said pocket when .flow through said chute is prevented, a chute for delivering coal from said bin to ano' iei' .of said storage spaces, and achute for delloering lOO Russel.. W;

coal from said bin to a or the U5' 

